What the Heck Happened at the ‘Haunted Coliseum’ Concert Last Night? (UPDATES)

October 28th, 20123:46 am

Kevin Schultz

1:37PM:While we do know who promoted the event, we do not know who booked the event and security on the Coliseum’s side of things.

In 2009, the Islanders themselves took over operational control of the arena, managing all bookings that came through, according to Let There Be Lighthouse. SMG still maintains responsiblity for the day-to-day management of the facility.

However, it is not clear as to who was responsibile for the security mess last night. Many times for an event such as this the building manager(s) simply play landlord and rent out the facility to the promoter, leaving the promoter to bear responsibility for security, ticketing, and other activities. For example, Disney on Ice brings their own concessionaires and many music acts have their own security teams.

“Kids were showing up drunk. They were drinking…somewhere. When a kid shows up a drunk and is puking in the parking lot, what can we do about that? They weren’t serving minors alcohol inside the venue.”

10:20AM: Thank you to those sharing their stories in the comments. Alexandra, who attended the event sheds some light on what happened:

A short time after 11 during Alesso’s set, the music was cut, the lights turned on, and an announcement along the lines of “The police have requested that we shut down tonights concert, please leave the building.” Many were so surprised by this, people were trying to figure out if the announcement was a joke, because many people at the time did not realize the tragic events that were taking place in the building. Although, once we left the building, it was extremely evident that many things had gone wrong; at least 11 ambulances, 3 firetrucks, and a countless number of cop cars lined the building, followed by a low flying helicopter overhead, as well as police on horseback. The major downfall of this event was the extreme lack of security at the doors and inside the concert. In case your wondering the most disturbing thing I had to witness last night; it was probably the two young teenagers having public sex on the dance floor. That pretty much sums it up.

Christian tells of security lapse at the event:

I’ve been to I can’t tell you how many Islanders games and concerts at the Coliseum over the years and have never seen such chaos. Normally when you attend Islanders game at the Coliseum you get a full pat down and bags are searched thoroughly, which I always thought was comical when MSG pretty much lets you in without such a hassle. None the less, that did not happen last night… I ask where to enter and was told to go back outside and find GATE 1. Well we see people just filing in at any open door next to the box office and security was too busy escorting people out to notice. No ticket takers, or ushers. Utter chaos.

Original Story: This week the Coliseum held the only two events it will host this month, as it is without Islander games thanks to the NHL continuing its lockout. The first was the Knicks/Nets pre-season game earlier in the week. The other was ‘Haunted Coliseum’ an electronic music concert that attracted teens and young adults from around the area on Saturday night. And apparently all hell broke loose. The New York Post reports that “at least 50″ people were hospitalized for drug or alcohol overdose and the event was shut down by authorities some time after 10pm.

Don’t worry, it gets so much crazier from there.

The tumblr for NYC EMS Buff, which appears to get its updates from EMS radio reports, updated around 10:30pm that Nassau County was requesting assistance from Suffolk and New York City. I don’t know what it usually takes for emergency services to request help from other counties, but that sounds pretty serious.